Around the Track: NHIS

Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer finished ninth in Sunday's race at Chicagland Speedway to move up two spots in the points standings to 16th.

It was his second consecutive top 10 finish after going two months without one. It was the second time this season he and teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton all were in the top 10.

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Now Bowyer heads to New Hampshire International Raceway, where in his only Busch Series start a year ago he finished 16th after starting eighth.

In Jack Daniel's "Around the Track,'' Bowyer addresses each week's venue as well as his philosophies on racing and life in general around NASCAR.

All of these teams in the Chase and those knocking on the door are pushing hard. For us to have two consecutive top-10s, that's saying a lot.

I haven't pushed it as far as what you saw on Sunday with Jeff Gordon bumping Matt Kenseth out of the way to win. But I'm definitely pushing harder than I ever have in a car.

You try not to drive over your head, because these guys are digging deep and driving the wheels off the things.

But I don't think you'll see too much more of what you saw with Gordon and Kenseth. If we do the big man [NASCAR president] Mike Helton will have something to say.

That's one good thing about NASCAR, if things get out of hand they'll step in and control the situation.

But you can tell the intensity is picking up. I saw it in the eyes of my boss, Richard Childress, when we were flying home from a test session at Indianapolis on Monday.

You see a rejuvenated look in his eye with Jeff and Kevin solidly in the top 10 and me not far away. He's determined to make the Chase after not making it the past two years and get things turned around at RCR.

But where you really see the intensity is on the track with all the other drivers. The level of competition has really stepped up, especially when you get inside the top 15.

The good thing about our sport is they keep us busy where we don't have time to think about the Chase all the time.

After testing on Monday at Indianapolis, I flew home so I could go to the dentist on Tuesday and get some stuff done around the house. We went back to Indianapolis to test some more on Wednesday before flying to New Hampshire on Thursday.

I learned a lot at Indy. It was my first time being there, and we got the car handling a lot better. By the end of Monday, we were pretty respectable.

Inside the Numbers Bowyer's 2006 stats Track St. Fin. Laps Status Daytona 37 6 203 running Fontana 32 14 251 running Las Vegas 20 15 270 running Atlanta 16 27 324 running Bristol 27 29 495 running Martinsville 42 22 496 running Texas 12 19 333 running Phoenix 8 5 312 running Talladega 15 40 16 crash Richmond 20 10 400 running Darlington 3 23 365 running Lowe's 15 19 399 running Dover 22 17 400 running Pocono 42 21 200 running Michigan 9 39 86 running Infineon 28 16 110 running Daytona 30 10 160 running Chicagoland 38 9 270 running

You might think testing makes for a busier-than-normal schedule. Actually, it seals off your schedule because you know you've got to be at the track for two or three days.

There's not time to anything but that.

Hopefully, we're still running strong when we get to Indy in August. We've got things going back in the right direction, and having my teammate doing well means our whole program at RCR is headed in the right direction.

I know for me to get in the top 10 and make the Chase guys like them are going to have to fall back, but you don't ever wish anything bad upon them. We're a long ways away, but if we keep running the way we are and have eight more top-10s, anything can happen.

Right now, everybody at RCR is feeding off each other. Any time you have all three teams finish in the top 10, that's a heck of a task.

Obviously, those guys are running a little better than I am, but given the level of experience that they've got over me on these tracks they should be running better. If they weren't, I'd be questioning some things.

I've only been to New Hampshire once, for the Busch race last year, so I'll rely on them for advice.

I like racing a flat track like that. You've got to turn good in the center to get off in the corner. We ran good at Phoenix and some other flat tracks earlier in the season, so I don't see any reason it won't carry over.

I'm sure a lot of people still will be talking about Juan Pablo Montoya coming into NASCAR next year from Formula One and Danica Patrick looking at our series.

Montoya's move says a lot about our sport. F1 is a huge sport on its own. I'm pretty excited about it.

Danica already has a huge following. Hopefully, things work out for her, too.

It won't be easy for either of them. I watched Indy car driver Paul Tracy struggle last year at a Michigan Busch race. It's a hard change to go from an Indy car that handles so well with that much downforce and to get in one of these cars that sometimes don't handle the best.

Just what we all need. More competition.